Where all your ID needs are met! Sort of.
Literature review on any “old timey” organism can be kind of a pain since I am convinced microbiologists get drunk every so often to reclassify clinically relevant organisms. This is the case for Bartonella. Originally described as bartonia, which is an erythrocyte-adherent organism similar to organisms of the genus of Rochalimacae, including Rickettsia quintana, was
During residency, I had the opportunity to do a global health elective where I spent a month in Lima, Peru rotating through Cayetano. I spent the majority of the time in the Tropical Medicine ward, where tuberculosis was everywhere. One of the more vivid memories was a patient with AIDS and cryptococcal meningitis. The residents
Originally described as a pathogen in 1923, Corynebacterium equi was isolated from the lungs of ten foals (aka a young horse) who had pneumonia (1). Its name was later changed to rhodococcus (aka red coccus), and can be mistaken for mycobacterium spp due to its sometimes acid-fast appearance (2). It is known to infect horses,
Am I going there? Am I going to look into a topic that one of my attendings literally wrote the guidelines for? I guess I am. Cryptococcus is a yeast that is typically found everywhere there is bat/pigeon droppings or contaminated soil, as well as in certain tree species throughout the world. The most common
HIV therapy has undergone many iterations. Long gone are the days of AZT and semi-literal drug cocktails and we have entered into an era where HIV treatment is as easy as just getting one pill per day with Triumeq, Biktarvy, and Atripla which include three-active components. Newcomer, Cabotegravir, may change the game going forward as
Morgan DJ, Zhan M, Goto M, Franciscus C, Alexander B, Vaughan-Sarrazin M, Roghmann MC, Pineles L. The Effectiveness of Contact Precautions on Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Long-term Care Across the United States. Clin Infect Dis. 2020 Oct 23;71(7):1676-1683. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciz1045. PMID: 31637429. This was a cohort study of long-term VA facilities (aka the CLC) evaluating
If I had to choose an enemy to my pretend superhero that enemy would be AIDS-related Kaposi Sarcoma (well, Staphylococcus Aureus but KS is a close second). I’ve seen several cases that did not end up in a good outcome during my training and I can recall only one where everything went well. In the
This post will not cover the clinical course or risk factors. We’ll be going over the direct fluorescence antibody, PCR, as well as the elusive beta-D glucan as well as taking a brief look at the original ways we used to diagnose PJP (or in some places, how they still diagnose it. In the days
This is a cross-sectional and longitudinal assessment of BD glucan levels in 146 patients living with HIV. Within this cohort, 53 had been diagnosed within 6 months, 22 had chronic HIV but no ART, and 71 had chronic HIV and were on ART. These were then compared to 42 uninfected controls. The study design is
Dr. Germophile 